If you build it, they will come. It’s a well-worn line from the well-known movie “Field of Dreams,” but it’s also an incentive that the energy gurus at NYSERDA are using. The state energy association just started a new program offering money to educators who initiate classroom projects  to increase students’ knowledge about energy efficiency [...]

On another cloudy day here in New York, some good news is peaking through. New York state has launched an $8 million appliance and equipment rebate program at https://www.nysappliancerebates.com/ for those who sustained property damage from those foul-weather storm foes, Irene and Lee. Anyone who purchases Energy Star or High Efficiency appliances and equipment to replace [...]

Schalmont special ed teacher Cori Kinns has been going nonstop since the Mohawk River ripped up Rotterdam Junction. She’s been coordinating efforts among teachers, aides, school-related professionals and caring citizens for collecting clothes, toiletries, cleaning supplies,  school supplies, and children’s toys. Many people had homes that were destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Irene, including school [...]

NYSUT is urging its members to take care when cleaning up flooded homes and businesses, and to use resources to get information on how to proceed safely. Throughout the state, teachers, school nurses, aids and assistants have all sustained heavy damage to their homes, and some have had their homes condemned due to severe flooding [...]

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the U.S.A. on 9-11 in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., let us remember the responders who helped rescue people, dug out the deceased, and cleaned up toxic buildings. Many of them are suffering with physical and mental illnesses. A story this month in [...]

As soon as Hurricane Irene hit their area, Schalmont TA president Mary Beth Flatley said calls started coming in to her from teachers asking how they could help. Many students and their families — and at least three teachers — have  homes in Rotterdam Junction that were severely flooded and will likely be condemned, Flatley [...]

Jennifer Gough’s life was changing in December 2004. She and her husband Jason were moving back to New York from Texas. A New York native, moving day back to her home state was one of her happiest. “My face hurt from smiling,” she recalled to an audience of 500 participants and supporters of the Making [...]

An interactive program to train 30,000 high school educators in suicide prevention is being offered by New York’s Office of Mental Health. Since depression and other illnesses often begin in the teen years, early treatment can make a huge impact. The online training, which launches July 1, is being provided by OMH through Kognito Interactive [...]

You can’t get any more real than this item from Wendy Hord, NYSUT’s health and safety specialist, who has been tracking situations around the state related to unsafe heat levels in  schools. One member e-mailed: “If you leave an animal in conditions of extreme heat, you can be arrested. But it’s okay for a child [...]

This alert come from Wendy Hord, NYSUT’s health and safety coordinator, who’s been fielding e-mails from  Health and Safety Task Force members logging complaints about unsafe classroom conditions due to excessive heat. “Well, we’ve had a pretty warm spring and once again classrooms have been way too hot. I’ve gotten reports from around the state [...]